A group of Taiwanese business magnates is planning to increase its contacts with China by establishing a cross-strait channel for communication between large corporations.
The announcement comes amid a flurry of indicators that a breakthrough in getting long-stalled talks on opening the "three links" with China -- direct postal services, trade and transport -- may be on the horizon.
Kao Ching-yuan (
"If Taiwan businesses go to China to invest and Chinese corporations are permitted to invest in Taiwan, many industries, such as tourism and real estate, would be positively impacted," a local Chinese-language newspaper quoted Kao as saying.
The groups member companies include United Microelectronics Corp (
The San San Group was originally established in 1999 with the goal of strengthening economic ties with Japan and lowering the trade deficit.
But now it is estimated that at least 80 percent of member companies have instead invested in China.
Kao said that the group would reduce the number of times it visits Japan. The group has visited Japan seven times over the last three years, he said.
This announcement came at the end of a week-long trip to China, during which Chinese officials were upbeat on opening links across the Taiwan Strait.
Chinese Vice-Premier Qian Qichen (
Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良), former chairman of the ruling DPP, said that he received the same message in meetings with Wang Daohan (汪道涵), chairman of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (大陸海協會).
Cable television station TVBS yesterday showed an interview in which Wang tells Hsu that if the two sides wanted to talk about three links then they should do just that and leave politics out of it.
Chen Yunlin (
The Legislative Yuan will debate draft revisions in September that may pave the way for direct links.
Two weeks ago three delegations of legislators visited China for talks on direct links.
The visits followed President Chen Shui-bian's (
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